LAWRENCE - The pre-game ovation was nice, but once that ended, so did all the warm and fuzzies.

Monday

Jan 19, 2009 at 12:01 AMJan 19, 2009 at 5:00 PM

Harold Bechard - The Hutchinson News - hbechard@hutchnews.com

Mark Turgeon's return to his alma mater did not have a happy ending Monday night as the Kansas Jayhawks ran over Turgeon's Texas A&M Aggies 73-53 at Allen Fieldhouse.

And once again, it was a lightning start out of the gate that got the Jayhawks going.

It wasn't an 18-0 run like a week earlier against Kansas State, but 18-4 after 51/2 minutes was plenty good enough on a night when Mario Little played his best game in a KU uniform.

Little, who had scored 11 points in his first five games for KU after recovering from various ailments, finished with 15 points and four rebounds while hitting on six shots from the field in 14 minutes of play.

"It felt good, kind of a relief to show people what you can do," said Little, who played last year at Chipola (Fla.) Community College last year. "I had a X-ray today and the leg's not 100 percent yet, but it's getting better day-by-day."

Kansas coach Bill Self was certainly pleased.

"He shot the ball well. He needed to have something good happen," Self said. "The was active and effective."

Little did a little bit of everything we he entered the game midway through the first half, scoring nine points in a three-minute stretch on a put-back, 15-footer from the wing, 3-pointer from the left wing and a baseline jumper.

"I try to score in a variety of ways," Little said. "I'm big enough to post up some guys, but I can also step out and hit the jump shot. I'm still a slow small forward right now, but I'm getting more reps each day in practice and getting back to game speed."

The Aggies were never in this one after turning the ball over seven times in the first eight minutes and 14 times in the first half. Kansas led by as many as 21 points in the first half and 27 in the second.

Turgeon did have his own cheering section, led by his wife, Ann, his parents and immediate family members, which were lined up behind the Aggies' bench long before the game began.

But the Turgeon clan didn't have much to cheer about as they watched the Jayhawks put on a clinic, shooting nearly 60 percent in the first half and turning it over just five times.

"It's good to be home. I love this place," Turgeon said. "You asked about effort, that's one thing I played with, and my team didn't play with it tonight. It's good to see family and good to be in this building, but we obviously we didn't perform well."

The 53 points by Texas A&M, which had knocked off the likes of Arizona, Kent State, Alabama and LSU earlier in the season, were a season low. The Aggies scored 55 during the second game of the season in a victory over Stephen F. Austin.

Junior guard Sherron Collins, who opened the game with a pair of 3-pointers in the first 74 seconds, scored 16 points and handed out seven assists as the Jayhawks placed four players in double figures. Cole Aldrich scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Marcus Morris added 10 points. Morris hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the top of the key in the second half.

But it was the defense on A&M star Josh Carter that had Self singing the praises of Brady Morningstar afterward. Morningstar held Carter to 2 of 6 shooting and seven points.

"Tonight, (Little) and Brady were our two best performers," Self said. "Brady has been great. He doesn't turn it over; he defends the other team's leading scorer. If you look at the guy on our team who gives it up for the betterment of the team, it's him."

The Aggies finished the game hitting 33 percent from the field and didn't have a player reach double figures.

The Jayhawks return to action Saturday with a 1 p.m. game at Iowa State, while Texas A&M plays at Texas at 7 p.m.

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